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The  Parr  ado  Street  Sabbath  School. 

By  Isabel  Mestres. 

The  Sabbath  school  on  Pa rrado  street  is  very 
near  the  sea.  The  people  who  live  in  that  vicin- 
ity devote  themselves  almost  entirely  to  fishing. 

In  June,  1906,  I attended  the  services  held  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Caibare.  and  al- 
though I was  in  sympathy  with  the  religion.  I 
had  not  become  a member  of  the  church ; first, 
because  I was  not  converted,  and  second,  be- 
cause my  parents  were  opposed  to  their  children 
taking  another  religion.  Nevertheless,  I attend- 
ed the  Sabbath  school  and  tried  to  find  others 
who  might  attend. 

With  all  this,  I was  still  very  worldly;  but 
each  day  I was  abandoning  the  things  of  the 
world  and  accepting  those  of  the  Gospel.  Wher- 
ever I went,  I spoke  of  the  Gospel,  and  although 
I myself  was  not  well  instructed,  I tried  to  tell 
others  what  I had  heard  in  the  service  and  in 
the  Sabbath  school. 

One  day  I went  to  visit  a friend  on  Parrado 
street,  who  had  a sick  child.  I carried  her  a 
card  with  a text  that  they  had  given  me  in  the 
Sabbath  school.  By  means  of  this  text  I was 
able  to  introduce  the  subject  of  religion  and 
explain  to  the  senora  of  the  house  what  I then 
knew  of  the  Saviour.  I told  her  where  I had 
learned  it,  and  that  she  ought  to  try  to  have 
her  children  attend  there  also.  She  replied  that 
it  would  be  a good  thing  if  her  own  children, 
with  the  rest  of  the  children  of  the  neighbor- 
hood, might  learn  of  this,  but  that  they  would 
not  be  able  to  attend,  for  they  did  not  always 
have  shoes  or  clothes,  or  the  things  necessary  to 
make  them  presentable  in  the  church. 

The  occupation  of  the  children  in  that  neigh- 
borhood is  to  aid  their  fathers  in  selling  the 
fish.  The  most  of  them  do  not  know  how  to 


read,  for  they  do  not  have  time  to  attend  the 
school.  Of  religion  they  know  very  little,  since 
their  parents  themselves  rarely  attend  religious 
services,  and  many  less  speak  to  their  children 
of  God.  It  is  distressing  to  see  boys  of  seven 
or  eight  years  of  age  smoking  cigarettes  and  to- 
bacco that  they  buy  with  some  cents  that  their 
fathers  give  them  when  they  have  finished  sell- 
ing the  fish. 

Seeing  the  earnest  desire  that  the  senora  had 
for  her  children,  I said  to  her:  “Perhaps  some 
day  they  will  be  able  to  put  a Sabbath  school 
here.”  She  offered  me  the  use  of  her  house,  and 
then  I told  her  she  might  mvite  the  children 
that  she  knew,  and  I would  speak  to  my  teacher 
in  the  Sabbath  school  to  come  there  and  teach 
them.  As  I was  not  a member  of  the  church  and 
was  not  fitted  to  take  part  in  a work  so  great,  I 
related  the  case  to  Miss  Houston,  mv  teacher  in 
the  Sabbath  school,  and  she  very  gladly  accepted 
the  idea. 

On  the  following  Sabbath  we  started  to  the 
house  mentioned,  and  found  gathered  about 
thirty  children  and  some  older  persons.  Miss 
Houston  spoke  to  the  older  ones,  wh’le  T taught 
the  children  the  texts  and  songs  that  I had 
learned  in  the  Sabbath  school.  For  some  Sun- 
days we  continued  teaching,  with  very  good  at- 
tendance. The  people  at  the  door  troubled  us 
so  much  that  the  senora  of  the  house  armed  her- 
self with  a leather  strap  to  keep  order. 

After  some  time,  a member  of  the  family  at 
that  house  took  sick  with  phthisis,  and  we  had 
to  suspend  the  singing,  which  was  the  attraction 
to  the  children. 

By  that  time  I had  become  a member  of  the 
church  and  had  to  go  alone  to  the  Sabbath 
school,  on  account  of  the  absence  of  Miss  Hous- 
ton. 

For  almost  three  months  I went  to  my  Sab- 
bath school  without  having  singing,  by  reason 
of  the  serious  condition  of  the  sick  one. 

One  day  the  priest  heard  of  the  sick  girl  and 
went  to  visit  her.  When  he  saw  a Bible  text 


placed  on  the  wall,  he  said : “The  Protestants 
are  visiting  this  place.  If  this  be  true,  before 
forty  days  the  whole  neighborhood  through 
which  tney  pass  and  visit  shall  be  covered  with 
water.”  The  next  Sabbath,  almost  no  one  at- 
tended and  when  I went  to  find  out  why  they 
had  not  attended,  they  told  me  what  the  priest 
had  said.  I told  them  not  to  pay  any  attention 
to  the  predictions  of  the  priest,  and  on  the  fol- 
lowing Sabbath  some  dared  to  come.  But  by  this 
time  the  sick  girl  was  so  very  ill  that  they 
would  not  permit  us  to  enter,  so  we  distributed 
tracts  and  “Manzanas  de  Oro”  (Sabbath  school 
paper)  at  the  door.  For  two  or  three  Sabbaths 
we  had  no  classes,  but  I always  went  and  visited 
them. 

A friend  of  mine,  seeing  mv  earnestness  and 
the  desire  of  some  of  the  children  to  attend,  of- 
fered me  the  use  of  her  house  for  the  school  un- 
til we  should  be  able  to  have  it  in  the  other 
again.  For  some  Sabbaths  I had  my  class  in 
that  new  house,  but  under  many  difficulties. 
Sometimes  the  senora  went  out  at  the  hour  for 
the  class  to  meet,  and  I found  the  house  shut,  or 
there  was  some  one  sick  and  we  could  not  sing, 
and  finally  a relative  died,  making  it  impossible 
to  c^en  the  doors  or  windows  for  a long  time,  or 
to  sing. 

The  other  sick  one  was  better,  and  I returned 
to  the  other  house,  but  the  senora  of  the  house 
told  me  that'  her  husband  had  said  that  he  did 
not  want  any  more  Sunday  schools  in  his  house, 
as  they  always  had  sickness.  I knew  very  well 
that  the  one  who  had  given  such  counsel  to 
that  senor  was  the  priest  and  a senorita,  a 
string  Romanist,  who  lived  in  the  vicinity.  I 
did  not  know  what  to  do  in  such  a case,  but  de- 
cided to  visit  the  neighborhood,  thinking  that 
some  neighbor  would  offer  the  use  of  his  house. 
In  one  of  these  visits  I found  a senora  whose 
son  was  my  pupil  in  the  Sabbath  school.  She 
told  me  that  she  had  read  the  Bible  in  the  epoch 
when  its  reading  was  prohibited,  and  that  she 
desired  to  know  more  of  the  Gospel.  I began  to 


go  every  Tuesday  to  read  to  her  the  Bible,  and 
one  day,  speaking  of  my  Sabbath  school  and  of 
the  desire  1 had  of  opening  it  again,  she  ottered 
me  the  use  of  her  house*,  and  from  that  time  1 
commenced  to  have  the  school  every  Sabbath. 

In  this  house  also  there  are  many  difficulties, 
for  when  there  is  no  sickness  in  the  house  there 
is  in  the  connection,  and  when  they  are  in 
mourning  the  doors  and  windows  must  be  kept 
closed  and  there  must  be  no  singing.  The  family 
in  whose  house  we  have  the  Sabbath  school 
are  regarded  with  indifference  by  their  neigh- 
bors, and  during  the  time  of  the  presidential 
elections,  the  parents  who  had  political  views 
contrary  to  those  of  the  said  family,  would  not 
permit  their  child  „n  to  attend. 

Now  we  have  an  attendance  of  twenty  chil- 
dren and  some  grown  people.  Two  senoritas. 
members  of  the  church,  assist  me.  We  do  not 
know  what  new  difficulty  will  present  itself, 
since  no  member  of  that  family  has  shown  a 
desire  of  entering  the  church. 


Executive  Committee  Foreign  Missions 
Presbyterian  Church,  U.  S. 
Nashville,  Tenn. 


